Jade Lally aims high with new coach Duquemin

Horsham discus thrower Jade Lally hopes working with new coach Zane Duquemin can help her go all the way to the next Olympics in Japan.

The British number one parted company with her long-standing coach of 15-years, Andy Neal, in June.

She said at the time: “We have been unable to agree on what approach I should take as we move forward, thus making the decision to work with another coach.

“We are leaving this partnership on good terms and Andy will remain a friend.”

Lally hopes the Loughborough-based coach can help her get to Tokyo 2020 and ultimately to break the British record.

She said: “Although Zane is a young coach, I have watched him go from strength to strength over the past few years and believe we will make a strong partnership in the build-up to my second Olympic Games.

“I feel glad about the move but having been working with Andy for a long time, it was scary doing it!”

Jade, 31, is still ambitious to build upon her 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medal.

She revealed: “I want to attack the British record - I hold the English record and I don’t want to keep correcting people when they say I’m the British record holder!”

Lally makes her next step on Sunday (July 1) when she defends her title at the British Championships and European trials at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham.

Her prize for winning will be a place in the British athletics team for the European Championships which take place in Berlin, Germany on 7–12 August and the athletics World Cup on July 14 and 15 at the London Stadium.

She is feeling in good shape, having largely - but not completely - recovered from a debilitating back injury.

This prevented her from being able to perform at her best at last year’s World Championships in London, where she finished eighth and did not qualify for the final.

It was a similar story at the Commonwealth Games in Australia in April, finishing seventh.

She said: “I had a couple of bulging discs and facet joint problems and inflammation in the spine.

“Despite not having funding anymore, I am seeing a physio in Oxford who used to work for British Athletics - my back is not completely better but I am managing it.

“I am aiming to win the British Championship and then finish in the top 12 at the European Championships later in the year.”

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